Charles Laughton Movies
Tortured but brilliant British actor Charles Laughton's unique performances made him a compelling performer both on stage and in film. After starting his career as an hotel manager, Laughton switched to acting. His performances in London's West End plays brought him early acclaim, which eventually led him to the Old Vic, Broadway and Hollywood. When he repeated his stage success in The Private Life of Henry VIII for Alexander Korda on film in 1933, he won a "Best Actor" Oscar. Known both for his fascination with the darker side of human behavior and for his comic touch, Laughton should be watched as a frightening Nero in Sign of the Cross (1932), the triumphant employee in If I Had a Million (1932), the evil doctor in Island of Lost Souls (1932), the incestuous father in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), the irrepressible Ruggles in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), the overbearing Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), which garnered him another Oscar nomination, and the haunted hunchback in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), with a very young Maureen O'Hara. During the war years, he played some light roles in Tales of Manhattan (1942), Forever and a Day (1943) and The Canterville Ghost (1944), among others. By the late '40s, Laughton sought greater challenges and returned to the stage in The Life of Galileo, which he translated from Bertolt Brecht's original and co-directed. As stage director and/or performer, he made Don Juan in Hell in 1951, John Brown's Body in 1953, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial in 1954, and Shaw's Major Barbara in 1956, all in New York. When he returned to England in 1959, he appeared in Stratford-upon-Avon productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and King Lear. Later film appearances include O. Henry's Full House (1952), Hobson's Choice (1954), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) (which gave him another Oscar nomination), Spartacus (1960) and Advise and Consent (1962). Laughton was married from 1929 to his death to actress Elsa Lanchester, with whom he occasionally appeared. His direction of the film The Night of the Hunter (1955) is critically acclaimed. ~ All Movie Guide- 1932
Based on a story by Robert Andrews, If I Had a Million is a multipart comedy-drama employing Paramount's top directorial and acting talents. Refusing to leave his fortune to his grasping relatives, dying millionaire Richard Bennett selects several people at random from the phone book and bestows upon each of them a check for one million dollars. The first recipient is henpecked husband Charlie Ruggles, who cheerily enters his former place of employment, a china shop, and smashes every bit of crockery in the place. Prostitute Wynne Gibson uses her money to escape from her sordid lifestyle and finally sleep in a bed all by herself. Forger George Raft finds that he can't convince anyone that his check is genuine, and ends up handing the check to a flophouse manager--who promptly burns it. Husband and wife W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth, dismayed that their new car has been destroyed by a "road hog," utilize part of their million dollars to purchase a fleet of cars and then smash up every road hog in sight! Convicted murderer Gene Raymond hopes that his million will help finance a new trial, but the execution is carried out on schedule. Newly rich clerk Charles Laughton calmly makes his way through a series of offices, reaches his boss' desk, and delivers a loud Bronx cheer. Gary Cooper, Roscoe Karns and Jack Oakie play three brawling marines who think the check's a joke and sign it over to an illiterate lunch-counter owner. The last million-dollar recipient is May Robson, an elderly woman confined to a dismal nursing home. She spends her money to turn the home into a joyful resort for old people, forcing the formerly repressive nursing-home staffers to earn their paychecks by sitting all day in rocking chairs. The millionaire who started the plot rolling is given a new lease on life by May Robson's example, and he recovers from his "fatal" illness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, (more)
- 1932
In this adaptation of Jeffrey Dell's play, Charles Laughton recreates his stage role as a seemingly meek bank clerk. To make good his debts, Laughton ingratiates himself with his wealthy Australian nephew (Ray Milland), then poisons the lad and buries the body in his garden. Using the money the nephew had on his person, Laughton invests wisely and becomes rich himself. He rapidly goes to seed, deserting his wife (Dorothy Peterson) for a "woman of the world" (Verree Teasdale) and drinking himself into unconsciousness. Laughton's distraught wife figures out the extent of her husband's crimes, and grimly arranges for Laughton to accidentally kill her--with enough circumstantial evidence planted to convict the husband of murder. Payment Deferred was a particularly vivid experience for supporting actor Ray Milland, who watched in amazement as Charles Laughton got away with some of the ripest "ham" ever seen on film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
- 1931
A smuggling organization leader hides his identity as a Dutch-Chinese tramp steamer skipper until he is discovered by a customs agent. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1930
This grim and gripping British melodrama was originally released in 1931 under the title Wolves. The scene is a Labrador whaling camp, where everyone is a fugitive from justice, and not a few are murderers. Dorothy Gish plays Leila, an unconscious survivor of a shipwreck who drifts into the camp in a rowboat. She is rescued by the lust-driven whalers, who then draw lots to see who will "win" her. Stacking the deck, a big lout named Job (Charles Laughton) claims Leila as his, but it turns out that he's an honorable sort who wishes only to rescue the girl from the other men. Wolves didn't make it to the U.S. until 1936, by which time its title was changed to Wanted Men and its running time was hacked down to 35 minutes by the censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Laughton, Dorothy Gish, (more)
Just before making his talkie directorial debut with Atlantic, director E.A. DuPont dashed off the silent "backstage" drama Piccadilly. By the time the film was released in 1929, talking pictures had taken a firm hold of the British film industry, obliging DuPont to reshoot much of the picture with dialogue. American screen favorites Anna May Wong and Gilda Gray (the girl who popularized the "shimmy dance") head the cast, the former as Shosho, a dishwasher in the London nightclub where the latter, cast as dancer Mabel Greenfield, performs nightly. Jealous of Mabel's dancing partner Victor Smiles (Cyril Ritchard), club owner Wilmot (Jameson Thomas) fires Victor, whereupon business drops off dramatically. In desperation, Wilmot takes Shosho out of the kitchen and puts her on stage, where she scores a big success. Feeling threatened by Shosho, Mabel heads to her rival's apartment with blood in her eye. A shot rings out, Shosho falls dead, and Mabel is accused of murder. But during the trial, it turns out that Shosho was done in by her Chinese sweetheart Jim (Kim Ho Chang). In his first feature film appearance, Charles Laughton performs an outrageous bit as a rowdy night club patron; also seen in a minuscule role is young Ray Milland. The talkie version of Piccadilly wasn't released in the U.S. until 1932. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilda Gray, Jameson Thomas, (more)
